Line-carrying rocket



pll 10, 19.51 c. D. SCHEMULQ Erm. 2518398 LINE-CARRYING ROCKET C VENT R15 @95M www@ CLM/JM.

BY 7Joursw-J ATTORN EYS.

April 10, 1951 c. D. SCHERMULY ETAL 2,548,398

LINE-CARRYING ROCKET Filed oct. so, 1947 2 sheets-sheet 2 :Ifiltllltnn r nlviallrl.

Z' 4rNvENToR ATTORNEYS,

. than during the burning of the first charge.

Patented pr. 10, 1951 LINE-CARRYING ROCKET Conrad David Schermuly,

Alfred J ames Schermuly, and Charles Schermuly, Parkgate, Newdigate, England Application October 30, 1947, Serial No. 783,022 In Great Britain October 30, 1946 This invention relates to line-carrying rockets and has for its object to provide a rocket capable of carrying a heavier line and/or capable of travelling for a greater distance than hitherto.

It has already been proposed to provide a rocket casing having two charges of propellant composition separated by delay means, so that after the rst charge has been burned away, the second charge is ignited after a delay. Such rockets have the drawback that the course of the rocket during the burning of the second charge is determined by the orientation of the rocket at the time when the second charge commences to burn. Since'during the delay between the exhaustion ofthe rst charge and the commencement of burning of the second charge, the rocket may commence to fall, the direction of flight during the burning of the second charge may be downwards and in any case is likely to be other This renders the whole flight inaccurate.

According to this invention a rocket Vcomprises a front casing and a rear casing, the said casings being capable of relative axial displacement and both containing a propellant composition, and means for ensuring ignition of the two propellant compositions at substantially the same time.

When the rocket is to be fired from a discharger by means of a cartridge, thermeans for ensuring ignition of the two propellant compositions at substantially the same time may consist of a passage throughout the length of the rear casing so that the ash from the cartridge not only ignites the propellant composition in the rear casing but also passes through the said passage and ignites the propellant composition in the front casing.

Alternatively, a fuze may be led from the rear end of the propellant composition in each of the casings, the free ends of the fuzes being joined together so that they may be ignited simultaneously.

Any suitable means may be provided to ensure the required axial displacement. For example, one casing may carry one or more rods projecting from the end thereof and passing through corresponding sleeves secured to the other casing, the rods being provided with stops to limit the relative axial movement. Alternatively one casing may be somewhat wider than the other so that the smaller casing may slide `within the end of the larger casing, the portion of the larger casing within which the smaller casing slides being apertured to allow the escape of the combustion products from the propellant charge in the larger casing when the rocket is in flight.

Claims. (Cl. 10,2-89) The propellant composition may be of the kind:

which is provided with a. central hollow around which ignition takes place so that the composition burns outwardly, or it may be of the kind in 'which the composition is spaced inwardly from the casing and is ignited on its outer surface sov that it burns inwardly. The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: f f

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of rocket according to this invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the embodiment of Figure 1 in ilight position,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the rocket of Figure 2,

Figures 4 to 6 are views similar to Figures 1 to 3 but of a second embodiment of the-invention,

Figures 7 and 8 are enlarged views of the frontand rear portions ofthe rocket of Figure .2,the-v lower half being in section, and

Figure 9 is an enlarged view-of parts of the; rocket of Figure 6, the lower half being in section.:

Referring first to Figures l to 3, a iront rocket casing I has secured to its rear end a collar 2 to: which are secured two sleeves 3 into which are; Slidable on the rods i are two.

secured rods ll. sleeves 5 secured to a collar 6 which is secured to the forward end of the rear rocket casing-1.'r Movement of the rear casing 'l in a rearward direction is limited by stops 8 welded or otherwise y,

secured to the ends of the rods The collar I has secured thereto two further sleeves 9, into which are secured two rods Il) to the free ends of which is hinged a bridle l I for the attachment of a line to the rocket.

The construction is shown in greater detail in,"

Figures 7 and 8. The casing I is closed at the front end by a plug I2 and a layer of clay I3, and contains propellant composition tapered hollow I5 at its rear end, and also an annular layer of clay I6 and a choke Il.

shape and is adapted to project into` the rearend of the casing I when the two casings are in the.

position shown in Figure 1. The rear casing -l also contains a clay plug I9, propellant composition 2U having a tapered hollow 2|, an annular A central pas- I 4 having aY The rear casing 'I is provided at its front end with a'` plug i8 the front of which is of frusto-conical.

`ing l' to pass right through the centre of the casing 'l and ignite the composition I4 in the front casing I.

In operation, the bridle Il is swung into the position shown in Figure l and the rear casing 'I is inserted into the barrel of a discharger cons to permit the escape of gas.

After the rear casing has been inserted into the front casing, two plates 28 are secured to the casing 25 by meansof screws one of which is shown at 29 in Figure 9. When the casing 25 moves rearwardly within the casing 26, the rearward movement is limited by the plates 28 striking against the rear edge of the apertures 21 within which they are situated (as shown in Figures 5, 6 and 9).

, To each of the plates 28 there is welded a sleeve 30 in which is xed a rod 3 I. A bridle 32 is hinged to the rear ends of the rods 3I.

The contents of the casings 26 and 25 may be the same as those of the casings I and l in Figures 'I and 8. Alternatively, and as shown in Figure 9, the propellant composition 33 and 39 may be in the form of pressed cylinders which are held in spaced relationship to the casings 26 and 25 by means of spiders 35. The ignition of the propellant composition 33 and 34 may be by means of fuzes and in order to indicate the way in which these fuzes may be arranged they are shown in Figure 9, although in actual fact when the rocket is in the iiight position shown in Figure 9 the fuzes will have burned away. One fuze 36 is joined at its front end to the composition 33 in the front casing 26, passes through a bore in the plug 31 which closes the front end of the casing 25, passes through the space between the composition 34 and the casing 25 and out through the choke 38 where it is joined to another fuze 39 which is attached'to the composition 34.

In operation the fuZes 36 and 39 are ignited while the casings 25 and 26 are in the position shown in Figure 4. As soon as the compositions 33 and 34 commence to burn, the rocket takes flight and assumes the position shown in Figures 5, 6 and 9.

If desired, the fuzes 36 and 39 may be omitted and the rocket shown in Figure 9 fired by means of a cartridge. The iiash from the cartridge not only ignites the composition 34 but also passes through Vthe space between the composition 3A and the casing 25 and through the bore in the plug 31 (a plurality of these bores preferably being provided in this case) and ignites the composition 33.

In cases where the casings 25 and 26 are provided with outwardly burning propellant composition (similar to that described with reference to Figures 1 to 3, 7 and 8.) the rocket in the position shown in Figure 4 may also be fired from a discharger by means of a cartridge.

The simultaneous burning of the two propellant compositions results in the rocket having greater speed and pull than in the case of a rocket of the same size but containing oni?l one propellant composition. Consequently it is possible to use heavier lines than have hitherto been possible with va given weight of rocket.

We claim:

1. A rocket comprising a front casing and a rear casing, means on the front casing supporting the rear casing for limited axial sliding movement relative to the front casing, two rods secured to the rear casing, a bridle hinged to said rods, a propellant composition in each of said casings and means for ensuring ignition of the two propellant compositions at substantially the same i time.

2. A rocket comprising a front casing and a rear casing, means on the front casing supporting the rear casing for limited axial sliding movement within the rear portion of the front casing, apertures in said rear portion of the front casing for the escape of gas, two rods secured to the rear casing within two of the apertures in the front casing, said rods being spaced from said front casing to permit the insertion of the rear portion of said frontv casing in-a discharger, a propellant composition in each of said casings and means for ensuring ignition of the two propellant compositions at substantially the same time.

3. A rocket as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rods are spaced from the rear casing to permit the insertion of said casing in a discharger.

4. A rocket as claimed in claim 2 wherein `said two rods are secured to said casing within two of the apertures in the front casing and said rods are spaced from said front casing to permit the insertion of the rear portion of said front casing in a discharger.

5. A rocket comprising a front casing and a rear casing, means on the `front casing supporting the rear casing for limited axial sliding movementV relative to the front casing, a bridle secured to the rear casing for the attachment of a line, a propellant composition in each of said casings and means for ensuring ignition of the two propellant compositions at substantially the saine time.

CONRAD DAVID SCI-IERMULY. ALFRED JAMES SCHERMULY. CHARLES SCHERMULY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

